The present invention pertains to a device for counting stacked elongated articles, in particular a stack of folding chairs.
Persons engaged in providing seating for large events whether they be contained in an outdoor tent or in a large hall supply, among other things, tables and chairs. Suppliers of such equipment generally utilize folding chairs which are made of tubular metal and which are stacked on a movable cart so that they can be conveyed to a particular site, off loaded and set up. One of the things that providers of such equipment must be attentive to is the fact that they have the proper number of chairs for a given event and that after the event is over that they inventory the chairs to make sure that they recover all of their equipment. This means that the chairs must be physically counted and sometimes recounted to make sure the requisite number of chairs are either delivered or accounted for.
Counting of chairs by hand is a tedious and time consuming function.
The present invention combines a counter indicator with a rotating wheel having notches equally spaced around the periphery so that a notch can engage individual elongated members. The counter and wheel are arranged on a handle so that the user can engage a single notch on the lower most member and roll the counter vertically thus contacting each tubular member in succession. The notches and the counter are connected so that each time a notch is rotated into the next position an additional count is added to the counter. The counter can be a mechanical counter such as used for counting persons entering through a turnstile, or an electronic counter, devices which are well known in the art.
Therefore, in one aspect, the present invention is an apparatus for rapidly counting stacked articles having a generally circular cross-section comprising in combination: a generally elongated handle having a first end and a second end; a generally circular article engaging device rotably mounted on the first end of the handle, the article engaging device having a plurality of semi-circular shaped notches on a peripheral surface of the article engaging device, the notches adapted to engage individual stacked articles, a counting indicator mounted on the handle and connected to the article engaging device, the counter and the article engaging device selected so that each time the article engaging device is moved to another stacked article the counter moves one unit; whereby when the article engaging device is placed against the lowermost of the stacked articles and the article engaging device is moved upwardly, an accurate count of the number of stacked articles is rapidly effected.
In another aspect, the present invention is an apparatus for rapidly counting a stack of folding chairs made from tubular material with a generally circular cross-section comprising in combination: a generally elongated handle having a first end and a second end; a generally circular article engaging device rotatably mounted on the first end of the handle, the article engaging device having a plurality of semi-circular shaped notches on a peripheral surface of the article engaging device, the notches adapted to engage individual stacked articles, and a counting indicator mounted on the handle and connected to the article engaging device, the counter and the article engaging device selected so that each time the article engaging device is moved to another stacked article the counter moves one unit; whereby when said article engaging device is placed against the lowermost of the stacked articles and the article engaging device is moved upwardly, an accurate count of the number of stacked articles is rapidly effected.
In yet another aspect, the present invention is an apparatus for rapidly counting elongated articles stacked in an array with separation between adjacent elongated articles comprising in combination: a generally elongated handle having a first end and a second end; a generally circular article engaging device rotatably mounted on the first end of the handle, the article engaging device having a plurality of semi-circular shaped notches on a peripheral surface of the article engaging device, the notches adapted to engage individual stacked articles, and a counting indicator mounted on the handle and connected to the article engaging device, the counter and the article engaging device selected so that each time the article engaging device is moved to another stacked article the counter moves one unit; whereby when the article engaging device is placed against the lowermost of the stacked articles and the article engaging device is moved upwardly, an accurate count of the number of stacked articles is rapidly effected.